I first played this game on the xbox 360 and it was amazing. I loved everything about it. Once I bought the computer version I was disappointed. The game is still great but the port to PC was terrible. All the instructions it gives you on how to attack and interact with the game world are still showing up as controller commands (ie hit RB to attack). Also, the original windows 7 cursor isI first played this game on the xbox 360 and it was amazing. I loved everything about it. Once I bought the computer version I was disappointed. The game is still great but the port to PC was terrible. All the instructions it gives you on how to attack and interact with the game world are still showing up as controller commands (ie hit RB to attack). Also, the original windows 7 cursor is still in game but you can't use it for anything. It just sits there and reminds you how much better this game is on a console. If you want to play this game and PC is the only option I highly recommend buying a controller.…Expand

The game itself is simply terrific, but the port is abyssmal. Especially considering how a simple mod released on day 1 by a fan fixes 2 of the most glaring technical issues, namely the native resolution buffer and DOF. That's simply inexcusable. Just a little more effort on FROM's part would have avoided most of the moaning by PC users and gave the game a better rep.
Now with theThe game itself is simply terrific, but the port is abyssmal. Especially considering how a simple mod released on day 1 by a fan fixes 2 of the most glaring technical issues, namely the native resolution buffer and DOF. That's simply inexcusable. Just a little more effort on FROM's part would have avoided most of the moaning by PC users and gave the game a better rep.
Now with the fanfix, the game looks absolutely stunning, much better than it ever did on consoles. Only problem remaining is the 30 fps lock, that sometimes drops to 15 fps for whatever reason. I hope the modder can fix this as well, because the devs likely won't.
As for the game it's unlike anything I've played before, and most importantly the antithesis to all modern games that want to be as easy, casual, and cinematic as possible. DS shines in world design, combat mechanics, and an unforgiving but rewarding difficulty. Worth a shot for anyone who likes action RPGs.…Expand

An excellent game, marred by a sloppy, horribly executed console port. Even if we were to dismiss the graphical issues, low FPS, locked internal resolution and the technical problems on some hardware like crashes and freezes, we're still left with one plain and simple fact. Dark Souls is designed to be played with a gamepad. No effort was made to alter that fact in any way. As a result theAn excellent game, marred by a sloppy, horribly executed console port. Even if we were to dismiss the graphical issues, low FPS, locked internal resolution and the technical problems on some hardware like crashes and freezes, we're still left with one plain and simple fact. Dark Souls is designed to be played with a gamepad. No effort was made to alter that fact in any way. As a result the keyboard and mouse settings are clunky, unwieldy and imprecise, the camera a cruel mistress at the best of times. Any fan of this title knows that precision is key to success and the mouse controlled camera affords none whatsoever, whereas the attempting to use solely the keyboard results in a rather awkward realization that an additional hand would be necessary to accomplish anything at all. It's unfortunate this port is such a disaster, as this is by far one of the best RPGs (if we are to define "RPG" in the "Diablo" sense of the term as opposed to say, the Baldur's Gate sense) to have come out in a good decade.…Expand

i like Dark Souls but it has some big problems. For a start it is not a good pc port, I had to use mods to get it to 1080p at 60fps and sometimes games for windows live would crash and I would get kick me off of my game and without live you can't play with your characters. The online of the game is that you can join a random world and help or kill someone and they can join your two, whichi like Dark Souls but it has some big problems. For a start it is not a good pc port, I had to use mods to get it to 1080p at 60fps and sometimes games for windows live would crash and I would get kick me off of my game and without live you can't play with your characters. The online of the game is that you can join a random world and help or kill someone and they can join your two, which is a nice touch but most of the time when someone join you it really lags and you can do a thing when one invades your world at lvl 60 and your lvl 12. it is a hard game and the control really bad you need a controller to play it. some of the sub boss are harder then real boss but it is a good challenge and you might like. The graphics beautiful with the mod for 1080p. A good game but with the problems it has I am going give it a 6.9 but I recommend to someone who like a good rpg.…Expand

Pretty good game with a few problems for me.
In about 75% of the game it's a fair challenge to the player but the rest of the remaining 25%? A very unfair memory test (Those percentages are totally not made up btw)
The first boss for example, a real thrill of a challenge that feels rewarding once you beat him.
But
in other cases creatures off screen will just sling a projectile orPretty good game with a few problems for me.
In about 75% of the game it's a fair challenge to the player but the rest of the remaining 25%? A very unfair memory test (Those percentages are totally not made up btw)

The first boss for example, a real thrill of a challenge that feels rewarding once you beat him.
But
in other cases creatures off screen will just sling a projectile or some gargantuan beast from nowhere will pounce and you're dead. No two ways about it, your dead.
The camera coupled with the level design can sometimes screw you over, where it'll clip behind a wall and block your complete view.
I like a challenge, not a memory test of jump scares and OHKs.…Expand

Really bad port of what is supposed to be an excellent game by all accounts. The control system drives you up the wall and doesn't feel responsive enough and just generally the game just feels... not quite there.

Too much game!
This game is easy to pick up but demands time, patience and diligence to master.
The combat system is amazing. Simple but immensely deep and satisfying. Even the lowest ranking enemies will cut you to bits if you rush in or lose concentration.
The world or Lordran is beautiful in a dark way. It's history and lore revealed only to those who seek it.
The problem is thatToo much game!
This game is easy to pick up but demands time, patience and diligence to master.
The combat system is amazing. Simple but immensely deep and satisfying. Even the lowest ranking enemies will cut you to bits if you rush in or lose concentration.
The world or Lordran is beautiful in a dark way. It's history and lore revealed only to those who seek it.

The problem is that this game really does demand too much of you. If I were a teenager with nothing better to do, I would score this a 9 or 10, but as a married man that works and has two kids, this is too much. I don't have the time to go back and fight the same boss for the fifth time just to have my behind handed over to me.
As a game, it's great. It is addictive as anything and very satisfying, but it does cross that line from being a game to feeling almost like a commitment. Too much for me.…Expand

I reviewed this poorly before but after seeing footage for Dark Souls 2, i decided to give this another try. If you press beyond the PC port issues there is some rewarding content later on. As long as you go the right way and have a walkthrough open most of the time.

As a game, it's pretty good. It's hard, it's challenging, it makes you want to come back for more. As a PC game? It's about on par with mashing your hands with a hammer. Blah blah, they had to port it on such a short time frame! Sure, but how long has it been out? Games can be updated y' know. And why does it look like ass no matter what I do with the settings?

I then bought a controlAs a game, it's pretty good. It's hard, it's challenging, it makes you want to come back for more. As a PC game? It's about on par with mashing your hands with a hammer. Blah blah, they had to port it on such a short time frame! Sure, but how long has it been out? Games can be updated y' know. And why does it look like ass no matter what I do with the settings?

I then bought a control to play it, and sure, the control helps, but the targeting system makes your character look at the sky like a retard, and God forbid you want to change the controls a little to make it easier to play. The lack of support for PC is atrocious, and any attempt at an excuse of "It was a forced port" is a load of It's a game, an exercise in business, you made it to sell it to make money. It wasn't one man in a shed with a hammer, a magic box shaped thing with people inside, and a ton of LSD.

If Dark Souls is anything to go off, Dark Souls 2 will be great on consoles, a disaster on PC. Go buy something else, like... Diablo 3, Mass Effect, or hookers.

Really, really poor form in just rushing it to a PC. Would have expected better from what I heard and saw.…Expand

Pro:
- Fights are exciting and require skill and good timing.
Contra:
- No save/load system. At times it feels like a MMORPG, where you run the boss after a wipe, only you have to clear the respawn all over again, everytime. That way it creates the illusion of difficulty, but what it really is just repetitive and lame.
- Poor story presentation. Poor identification with hero.
- PoorPro:
- Fights are exciting and require skill and good timing.

Contra:
- No save/load system. At times it feels like a MMORPG, where you run the boss after a wipe, only you have to clear the respawn all over again, everytime. That way it creates the illusion of difficulty, but what it really is just repetitive and lame.
- Poor story presentation. Poor identification with hero.
- Poor inventory management (console typical)
- Bad perfomance (due to bad portation)
- Other players may invade your game and kill you

Why this game got that much positive reception is completely beyond me.…Expand

The port is complete fail. I don't really care about graphic, but I feel cheated as they deliver sub standard port where you can't even change the resolution not mention anything else. This go even further as they were not able even remove default mouse cursor Think like game is running in window mode by default is justI just don't get it have some people can rate this game so high.

The port is complete fail. I don't really care about graphic, but I feel cheated as they deliver sub standard port where you can't even change the resolution not mention anything else. This go even further as they were not able even remove default mouse cursor Think like game is running in window mode by default is just detail. It scream loudly lets get some money out of it while it is still popular.

Controlling is not really good while playing on game pad and from time to time you would feel like you need one more finger, the latency of you clicking is quiet slow and sometimes you just look how your character is still doing something while you are trying to do something else. Also sometimes miss-click may cost you your life and trust me it happens more often than pleasant. If you would think you can play it with keyboard forget it they just tried to map game pad directly to keyboard and it is just unplayable. If you do not own gamed or planing to buy one don't by the game.

The game looks great even in oldish graphic it have its charm and is quite original with nice sceneries.

The system of stats, weapons, armours and magic is good but nothing really original, what I liked a lot was weapons are not purely based on strength or dexterity but it partially on both and the ratio depends on each weapon. Also I really like how weapons don't just go through the walls but actually stop the attack as if you hit enemy shield.

There is one more problem and that is camera I found myself dead few times just because I could not seen myself and saw just wall behind me or boss or something like this instead or when I used lock on enemy this occasionally picked someone than wasn't even endangering me instead of the creature that actually killed me before I managed to hit because of this.

The best think about this game should have be that it is hard and challenging and that was the reason I bought this game in a first place as I love such game and they are really spare nowadays, but somehow I can see it her. The part where you are fighting with non-boss monsters is just normal nothing changeling (if camera don't do its tricks or you up dead because of the lazy controller) .

Fight with bosses are deadly hard, but the strategy is not so hard to made only problem is the execution when you can die easily as they can kill you with one or two blows, this wouldn't be such a problem it was not quite often result of bad camera or problematic control. Your dead will result in re-spawn of you but also all monsters so you need to get through repetitive fights with lesser monster again and again as you will never beat the boss in few first tries. This was quite boring to me. I don't know, I just can't see than supper challenges and hardcore difficulty, I see hardcore bosses, but the rest is more like problems of camera and controls or tedious killing without any real difficulty or challenges.

On one hand I liked lot of aspects of this game very much and it brought lot good stuff, but have also lot of problems and things that were plainly shoddy done in process of porting. I think this is most inconsistent game I have ever played what is really shame as it could have one of the best games I have ever played with just a bit of polishing here and there and some proper porting…Expand

Dark Souls is essentially a mediocre action game with shallow RPG elements tacked on. If you're looking for a GREAT action game, you're better off playing Devil May Cry (or DMC3 for that matter) which has RPG elements about as deep as you'll find in this game, (kill enemies, get currency, upgrade character) but with much better combat and tighter, more responsive controls.

The NintendoDark Souls is essentially a mediocre action game with shallow RPG elements tacked on. If you're looking for a GREAT action game, you're better off playing Devil May Cry (or DMC3 for that matter) which has RPG elements about as deep as you'll find in this game, (kill enemies, get currency, upgrade character) but with much better combat and tighter, more responsive controls.

The Nintendo hard challenge doesn't help the game much either, as it leads to very limited game play experience. Essentially, you run through an area fighting dull enemies, get one shot by the area boss, run through again, try to figure out how you got killed, die (of course), run through again, rinse and repeat until you figure out the boss's gimmick. Which just leads to you spending most of your time fighting the same predetermined enemies, while bashing your head against an over-tuned boss battle. Eventually you clear that area, and it's onto the next, and just like that, after just one area, you've experienced all the game has to offer.…Expand

If the idea behind the difficulty was to exclude a huge number of gamers .. then they succeeded. Not every person is born with the ability or dexterity ... plus other handicaps and factors that make this game unplayable for many. For instance, I am 64 years old - I was not born the Nintendo Generation - I can barely type properly. There are several games I've been forced to regretfullyIf the idea behind the difficulty was to exclude a huge number of gamers .. then they succeeded. Not every person is born with the ability or dexterity ... plus other handicaps and factors that make this game unplayable for many. For instance, I am 64 years old - I was not born the Nintendo Generation - I can barely type properly. There are several games I've been forced to regretfully abandon over the years (Prince of Persia ... ) that I would dearly have loved to play. But there was no difficulty level that would permit me. To deny any option that will allow ALL people to enjoy a game is purely shortsighted. And frankly ... stupid.…Expand

Dark Souls has the story, it has the progression, it has the loot and but it ruins it all in one single moment with a singe gimmicky gameplay mechanic.

I'm a big fan of RPG games, I love the idea of adventure, exploration and expansion of my character, Dark Souls isn't really an RPG where it matters, It's an RPG in terms of progression, It's and RPG in terms of it's rewards and LootDark Souls has the story, it has the progression, it has the loot and but it ruins it all in one single moment with a singe gimmicky gameplay mechanic.

I'm a big fan of RPG games, I love the idea of adventure, exploration and expansion of my character, Dark Souls isn't really an RPG where it matters, It's an RPG in terms of progression, It's and RPG in terms of it's rewards and Loot system, But as far as the gameplay goes, it's as far away as being an RPG as possible, it has a nice competent combat system, relying on health, stamina, timing and the type of enemy you are facing, all this is truly wonderful. It has an awesome loot system, tons of different weapon types, ton's of different combinations of class types. It's truly got everything that makes a great RPG, it also has some exploration and adventure, it's not the kind of thing you see in Fallout, Skyrim, Dragons Dogma, Kingdoms Of Amalur, It's more linear, you have a set linear path, on a set linear story, but the world itself isn't linear, there are lots of places to go, lot's of hidden areas and tons of things to find, But, it's not open world and if it was, it may have benefited more from that.

So wait? I like it? Well, here is where the biggest problem with Dark Souls makes itself obvious, It's challenge and it's lack of options for those who don't want a challenge. Dark Souls tried to appeal to a specific audience and I respect that, I understand the type of people it's aimed at, the kind of people who play Minecraft on hardcore, The people who play Bioshock Infinite in 1999 mode The people who play Fallout in hardcore mode. I get it. But those games I Just mentioned, have a difficulty for people who don't like challenge, don't like being punished for every mistake. Dark Souls does it anyway, it's difficulty has sure given it a distinguishing calling card, a reputation per-say. But Dark Souls reputation could be that it's a truly amazing game were it not crippled by it's difficult reputation, what it does, is it turns people off. I put off buying Dark Souls for the reason, when I bought it, I liked it, but I'm glad I only paid £3 for it, put it that way. You NEED to give people options Namco, have difficult options for the people that want them and give a great experience for those who don't!…Expand

In a nutshell: engrossing and janky as hell. People giving this game a 10 should be shot. Sure, the game is supposed to be difficult but that difficulty is based largely on the clumsy controls and buggy programming. When I say controls, I'm not crying about the mapping of buttons. I'm talking about a camera and movement system straight out of 1996. I feel like I'm controlling Lara Croft inIn a nutshell: engrossing and janky as hell. People giving this game a 10 should be shot. Sure, the game is supposed to be difficult but that difficulty is based largely on the clumsy controls and buggy programming. When I say controls, I'm not crying about the mapping of buttons. I'm talking about a camera and movement system straight out of 1996. I feel like I'm controlling Lara Croft in Tomb Raider 1. Black knights that glitch in front of your face as you're running away from them is an example of poor coding. If you're willing to put up with that, you're in for a good game. Not a great game, just a good one.…Expand

The Game itself: Amazing, The User Experience: Horrible. That sums up Dark Souls PtDE PC. The game itself is beautiful, very fun challenging gameplay, a deep and complex combat system with dodging, parrying and ripostes, a huge world, massive enemy variation, tons of great bosses and cool gear, but all of it, is eclipsed by how horrid this port is. Here's my experience with it: The gamesThe Game itself: Amazing, The User Experience: Horrible. That sums up Dark Souls PtDE PC. The game itself is beautiful, very fun challenging gameplay, a deep and complex combat system with dodging, parrying and ripostes, a huge world, massive enemy variation, tons of great bosses and cool gear, but all of it, is eclipsed by how horrid this port is. Here's my experience with it: The games resolution is limited to 1024x720... like, really? So, right off the bat, I'm installing DSFix just so I can play the game at a resolution befitting of something made post 2007.
So, DSFix properly installed, recognized by NexusModManager, brilliant, time to play, right? WRONG.

The game immediately crashes on launch 'DARKSOULS.EXE is not working', really?
So, I uninstall the game, and reinstall Games for Windows Live, thats' right guys, it's not SteamWorks, welcome to the Dark Ages.
I spend an hour reinstalling the game and then DSFix, same error again.

Not to mention its unplayable with keyboard and mouse. If you want Dark Souls, buy it on Xbox or PS3, it isn't worth the money of effort of getting it to work on PC and pretending you don't want to through your monitor at a baby.…Expand

Terrible absolutely terrible port! I loved this game, i believe its one of the best rpgs i ever played! If i was to rate the gameplay and the story its definitely a 10 and a MUST play for anyone who loves rpgs and has some patience because this game has a very steep learning curve, but the game is horribly delivered to the PC! If you can get your hands on the xbox version i highlyTerrible absolutely terrible port! I loved this game, i believe its one of the best rpgs i ever played! If i was to rate the gameplay and the story its definitely a 10 and a MUST play for anyone who loves rpgs and has some patience because this game has a very steep learning curve, but the game is horribly delivered to the PC! If you can get your hands on the xbox version i highly recommend it! Other than that the mutliplayer has a lot of issues mainly issues with cheaters and lag. 10/10 for the game, 6/10(it would be lower for any other game, but its still Dark Souls) for the port! If you can get your hands on an xbox controller or do some searching on the Internet to find some good mods to make it work properly its a definite purchase!!!…Expand

I really want to like this game, I really do. I've played it before on a PS3, looked pretty neat, a couple days later, I saw it on sale at steam, and I make the poor decision to buy it.
It's a good game, but PC port is just awful. Actually, it's worst than awful: It's just freakin' bad.
Poor controllers, it's bad even with a XBOX360 Controller, I have no idea how they managed to do this.I really want to like this game, I really do. I've played it before on a PS3, looked pretty neat, a couple days later, I saw it on sale at steam, and I make the poor decision to buy it.
It's a good game, but PC port is just awful. Actually, it's worst than awful: It's just freakin' bad.
Poor controllers, it's bad even with a XBOX360 Controller, I have no idea how they managed to do this. Poor Resident-Evil-4-graphics, you can't even change the most basic graphic options, just resolution and antialising. Dumb controls: you have to surf through menus with the awful xbox360 controller D-pad (or should I say circle-pad?), and finally GFWL. Seriously? It's 2013 and still using GFWL?
Don't buy this, spend your money in a better and well-made game.…Expand

5/10
I am so dissapointed by this game. I thought it would be one of the best console game, maybe it is, but is this great?
1st: I am not complaining about the ridiculous port from console to PC: with some mods this is technically not bad. Ok, there are some things, that is normal and great in PC games: free saving for example: I dont want to go through all the same enemies all over5/10
I am so dissapointed by this game. I thought it would be one of the best console game, maybe it is, but is this great?
1st: I am not complaining about the ridiculous port from console to PC: with some mods this is technically not bad. Ok, there are some things, that is normal and great in PC games: free saving for example: I dont want to go through all the same enemies all over again, because I am killed by a boss, what is normal until you know the strategie.
Now the game itself: Storytelling is so bad, I needed to search in internet to understand, that the story is... this never happened to me before. Gameplay...Hack n slay can be fun, but not here: you re doing the same little things million of time just to be perfect and not be killed... so often. Graphic + Sound: perfect. After about 15 hours I had enough and installed a PC game from 1997, that is better in my eyes: Fallout 1.…Expand

When it comes to dark souls, I am conflicted having played both the console and PC Port. I'll start now, saying that the PC Port receives a 5/10 without any mods, 6/10 properly modded while the console version gets a 7/10 because it's multiplayer isn't compromised by Games for Windows Live. Take this score as objectively as possible, because my subjective opinion is that I absolutely loveWhen it comes to dark souls, I am conflicted having played both the console and PC Port. I'll start now, saying that the PC Port receives a 5/10 without any mods, 6/10 properly modded while the console version gets a 7/10 because it's multiplayer isn't compromised by Games for Windows Live. Take this score as objectively as possible, because my subjective opinion is that I absolutely love this game and if I graded this score based on my subjective opinion, I'd grade it a 10.

Dark souls is a gritty dungeon crawler that has become famous due to it's difficulty with a slightly more open world than it's predecessor Demon Souls. Unlike Boletaria, Lordran is plagued with the undead who have started to appear as the fires within the Kiln of the First Flame start to die out.

Gameplay: Dark souls follows the same formula as Demon Souls when it comes to gameplay. It's an 'hack and slash' adventure RPG with a lot of strategic depth. Fights require you to think and time your attacks precisely whilst monitoring your stamina use. Stamina is used for attacking, blocking, dodging and running making it incredibly important. Weapons and armor all have their pros and cons, but although there are weapon and armor stats there is also a metagame involved. There is no 'best weapon of the game' like in some other RPGs as a weapon is only useful if you can use it well. In PVP this is seen quite clearly. Armor might be effective, but you might want to use light armor to be more mobile and able to dodge, or invest in Endurance so you get more carrying capacity and are able to use Medium armor as if it were light armor. If you don't know how to move in the set of armor you're using, it's also not going to do much which makes the game very skill based which is a very good thing.
It's also here however that the game takes a blow from it's poorly executed PC Port. I'm certain that many PC gamers are thankful that From Software ported the game to PC, but the PC controls are absolutely horrible making the game impossible to play without a gamepad unless one gets mods to fix them like the DSFix and the DS Mouse Fix. I know some people who don't have gamepads, and were greatly aggravated claiming the game was unplayable until they finally got the mods.

Multiplayer is the heart and soul of the game, you don't experience it fully if you're not playing online. Players leave messages giving you hints about dangers ahead or luring you to your death, bloostains tell you how others have died, if you're not Hollowed, a state that you start at untill you sacrifice Humanity to reverse it and regain if you die, you can summon players from their game world to help you complete the level, but you can also be invaded by other players or worse. Unlike Demon souls where there was just an axis between good and evil, in Dark Souls factions were introduced into the game with plenty of different multiplayer interactions, Gravelords will infect your world with powerful monsters until you find their signs for instance which is many a New Game player's woe. If you get it to work that is. Games for Windows Live is absolutely broken and I'm sure From Software only used it because they didn't know what they were getting into. Because it doens't work, players have brought upon themselves ways of fixing this by modding the game, but making it only possible for players in their friends list to invade them, with large groups like /vg/ having a player list so people can have others to interact with but also further isolating the community. Without the mod, you're likely not to invade anyone not to mention the amount of people who just play the game as Hollow to not be invaded, completely removing multiplayer from the picture due to it's horrible implementation.

The story is very interesting but also very vague, but I say this in a good way. Most of the things you'll discover will be through speculation and item descriptions, with Lordran itself being an amazing setting filled with different scenarios. From the decadent Undead Parish, it's sewers and putrid blight town, to the Demon Ruins below the earth filled with Lava, to the city of the 'Gods' Anor Londo and the new DLC areas which include the Abyss.

However, when looking at it objectively, this game is an improvement Demon Souls but some of it has been stripped and streamlined. There is no longer 'mana', magic has charges which makes it very easy for a character to pick it up. In fact, with Pyromancy, one only needs attunement to get more spells and an improved pyromancy flame to be effective (As well as skill to use them). In Demon Souls, you needed intelligence to improve your mana and spell uses. As a Faith character, you needed to invest in inteligence anyway for mana as well as faith for your spells to be effective and to have more spell slots. There are too many checkpoints, making the game a lot easier than it's predecessor. It's still a game you can spend a lot of time on and worth your money.…Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
Dark Souls is a really interesting game but one hell of a difficult one.
Sadly this difficulty doesn't always come from the tactics-based bosses and areas but more from the bad camera angles,framerates and collision boxes.

Focusing an enemy will sometimes cause the camera to go full potato and twist around like crazy; pointing to the sky, the ground or to some enemy who is way too far away to be an actual threat.
Sometimes one enemy will be able to lock you against a wall and make you unable to move or dodge attacks which gets really annoying if you fight a group of foes. There are some enemies (especially the mosquitos in Blighttown) who may get damage from attacks missing them but will completely ignore attacks that go right through them.
Additionally this game is really poorly ported to the PC. The standard controls make almost no sense and it takes very long to find working keybindings. The mouse cursor will always be visible if you don't install a mod which hides him (like DSfix).
The framerate in many areas (mainly Blighttown, Sen's Fortress and the Kiln Of The First Flame) is terrible on older PCs like mine (~15 FPS), while in other areas I got framerates of around 100 FPS without any problem.

Overall Dark Souls is an excellent game but the PC version is haunted by way too many problems to be actually enjoyable throughout the entire game.…Expand

Yes, this game is one of the most horrible ports I've seen in a while. They still even had the Xbox controller icons in the game. The people who are complaining about the controls are not very skilled, just an excuse to compensate for their poor performance. (These people are those idiots that buy an Alienware machine and can't clean it) Yes, at first, the controls for theYes, this game is one of the most horrible ports I've seen in a while. They still even had the Xbox controller icons in the game. The people who are complaining about the controls are not very skilled, just an excuse to compensate for their poor performance. (These people are those idiots that buy an Alienware machine and can't clean it) Yes, at first, the controls for the mouse/keyboard are just horrid. I had to reconfigure them to make it less awkward than it already is. As an avid PC gamer, you must learn to adapt; that's what I have done: On NG 3+ and have already beaten the DLC as well as Ornstein and Smough. I played on an old 5+ year old machine, Dell inspiron 530 stock with a GT210 (512mb), (constant 20- fps) no one can complain. Other than that, it's a very solid and unique game on its own. The game is more action focused than Role Playing, in which the combat delivers very well.

Gameplay will feel very strange at first, for all the people who don't have a PS3 and have played Demon Souls probably won't have many problems. The game has a learning curve, a big one, but with a bit of bravery and practice, you will surpass that and be killing enemies and bosses with ease. When you first play the game, it is an experience you will never forget, you will push yourself to the brink of frustration. Exploration is very fun and risky but that's what makes it fun. You're taking a huge risk of dying, enemy encounters only make exploring more exciting. Landing blows are very satisfying. You feel like you're doing damage (most of the time). There are minor RPG statistical elements and pseudo-realistic elements as well: such as armor weight and armor protection, both are numbers that have an effect on you. Same with everything else in game. Leveling system is quite nice, if you have enough souls (which you collect from killing enemies or looting), you get to distribute one point into a variety of different skills to suit your play style. You can make your typical builds like any other fantasy RPG, but they are optional, you can build your character however you want. Which can lead to a terrible character if you do not properly distribute points and go for a good build. Boss battles are unique, and can be taken down in all ways if you're able to. The game can feel unfair a lot of the times. There are a nice variety of places to explore, and hardly any loading times for the scale of the map.

One thing that makes the game all the worse is the queuing system. The queuing system is by far one of the worst I have seen in a while. Buttons seem delayed a lot of the times. Say, I'm attacking, I click twice, in the middle of that, I try to roll out; As soon as I'm done with my second attack, the enemy is going to hit me, instead of rolling, the game makes me attack again, which would result in my death; even though I wanted to roll, not attack again.

Another huge gripe is the mouse targeting. All you do is face an enemy, middle click, then it would lock on. Simple right? To an extent, it's not that it's not simple, but how it functions most of the time. When facing more than one enemy, the lock on would spaz out and switch to both targets constantly and would most likely get you killed. This happens with the mouse sensitivity on high or low, there is no sweet spot.

The graphics are quite nice, you would see some nice shading, but it is there to compensate for the low quality of some textures. Animations are pretty terrible, male and female characters have the same animations, even the funky "crapped your pants" idle stance. The game is too "asian" like, almost anime-esque, which is a massive turn off for me. The voice acting as well, they mind as well have that irritating japanese school girl voice in. I feel that western games just feel and look better overall. They don't have that stupidly pointless excessive-ness that (stereotypical) asian things/games/everything seem to have.

The story feels like it almost doesn't exist. It is a very interesting story that is indirect and is solely based off of fan speculation. I wish it would be told in the actual game though, I want to know who I'm fighting, why am I fighting, who is this guy? Why is he here, what does he want? Most questions are not explained in the game, I wish they were. Interaction between characters is extremely limited. Which leads to the non-role playing part. Yes, I am my own character, but my influence feels artificial, my only influence seems to be from a strike of my sword.

The game is overall unpolished, but still good. The game is challenging, not "lolz,i 'm so hardcore pro MLG quality" though, I played this game casually, got NG2 in less than 80 hours. A good game on it's own. I would recommend it if the player is willing to take the challenge. With the exception of the anime-esque aspects, the quality and longevity is shortened by the lack of mod support, terrible port, and Games for Windows Live.…Expand

I had lots of fun with Dark Souls but I also got very frustrated at times. It has everything a good RPG should have. It also has some annoying repetition and grinding.

The world is fun to explore, the enemies and environments interesting and varied enough to encourage you to go on just to see what's next. The world is progressively unlocked just by building your character until theyI had lots of fun with Dark Souls but I also got very frustrated at times. It has everything a good RPG should have. It also has some annoying repetition and grinding.

The world is fun to explore, the enemies and environments interesting and varied enough to encourage you to go on just to see what's next. The world is progressively unlocked just by building your character until they can triumph where once they had been beaten to a pulp. I found it very satisfying to beat an area which had been much to hard for me a day ago.

There's always something on the horizon goading you on - a boss you couldn't kill, a weapon you can't quite use properly, an item you can see off in the distance but can't reach. This all works very nicely to keep you playing without getting bored.

Some more good points: there are no endless conversation trees, there's actually very little dialogue at all; enemies don't speak, so no repeated one liners; the difficulty curve keeps you challenged but not stuck (generally).

BUT, and this is a big stinky but(t), I didn't like having to trek back through the same area with the same enemies every sodding time a boss killed me. I'd often spend longer getting to a boss than actually fighting it. This game could benefit immeasurably from a simple "Restart Boss?" button. This isn't a gripe at the difficulty, I like that the bosses are big and tough and can crush you with their pinky finger, because then I feel I've earned their XP etc. when I finally beat them. I just don't see why I need to fight the same small enemies ad nauseam just to get another round. "OK," I said "time to go grind some levels."

I don't like grinding: a game should be fun, not work, and I don't buy into the thinking that if you haven't spent long enough murdering the same helpless group of enemies then you don't deserve to see the rest of the game you paid good money for. In this game you'll have to grind for XP and materials to improve weapons and armour. All that stuff should stay in the realms of MMORPGs where I don't have to go anywhere near it.

These points fit with the lore but the lore shouldn't detract from game play - that's just pretentious and poor design.

Overall a very good RPG which suffers from two very prominent annoyances.…Expand

You're going to die, you're going to want to throw things across the room and that's the point of buying this game. I love challenge, but I love challenge that comes from the game itself.

The poor porting to the PC version leaves much to be desired. Controls are non-intuitive and difficult to understand. I got it on sale over Steam so it was a great deal for the playtime that I gotYou're going to die, you're going to want to throw things across the room and that's the point of buying this game. I love challenge, but I love challenge that comes from the game itself.

The poor porting to the PC version leaves much to be desired. Controls are non-intuitive and difficult to understand. I got it on sale over Steam so it was a great deal for the playtime that I got out of it, I just wish I wasn't fighting the controls and interface as much as the impossible monsters and bosses in the game.…Expand

I actually admire a game that challenges its players but Dark Souls goes too far. It often feels like you are not fighting the characters in the game but the game itself. The Controls are sloppy, even on a 360 controller, and many times you wind up doing something you didn't want to do. Beware of any form of combat on a precarious position, for you may end up performing an attack onI actually admire a game that challenges its players but Dark Souls goes too far. It often feels like you are not fighting the characters in the game but the game itself. The Controls are sloppy, even on a 360 controller, and many times you wind up doing something you didn't want to do. Beware of any form of combat on a precarious position, for you may end up performing an attack on accident that will cause you to fall to your death (this happens A LOT). There is no guidance in the game, so besides hacking bad guy after bad guy, I have no idea what I am doing. All enemies (except bosses) re spawn whenever you rest at a bonfire, removing any satisfaction from killing them. The comment system with which other players can leave warnings/adivce in your world is either useless or hurtful because they are so limited that you have no idea what they are talking about until after you have encountered the enemy ( some jerks put a "try jumping" hint near a cliff just to make you fall). Upon death, your re spawn at your bonfire, meaning that you lose all your souls AND enemies re spawn too, which could lead to an infinite loop of death...besides all this, it is still a fun game, just frustrating and difficult. The difficulty wouldn't be so bad if you could fight it, but since half of the problem is with the game itself you cant.…Expand

+ Overall good melee combat mechanics with a strong emphasis on "impact" behind every action, every action carries a price and must be calculated, making it one of the most engaging combat systems
+ Good soundtrack
+ Great variety of enemies and their move sets
+ Excellent weapon (with their own animations) and armor variety, customization to your play style
+ Entire Player subculture+ Overall good melee combat mechanics with a strong emphasis on "impact" behind every action, every action carries a price and must be calculated, making it one of the most engaging combat systems
+ Good soundtrack
+ Great variety of enemies and their move sets
+ Excellent weapon (with their own animations) and armor variety, customization to your play style
+ Entire Player subculture through "covenants"
+Good boss fights...some great, some are poor( Discharge, Butterfly, Bed of Chaos, summon exploitsm etc), but overall enjoyable
+ Well executed concept of learning about the world through subtle hints through dialogue, discovery, items
/ Atmosphere, Lore and sound design
/ Art style, environment design and visuals
/ Magic system, extensive but very unimaginative
/ Difficulty...challenging and rewarding, but trial and error also often cripples the fun factor
- Controls with very noticeable lag, especially with jumping, dodging and rolling
- Very poor combat UI
- Abysmal dialogue and npc's, very poor voice acting...most of the time WITHOUT any lyp sinc
- Poor Archery
- TON of repetition and grinding
- Poor and easily exploitable enemy AI that attacks through walls or shoots arrows relentlessly at them, or is simply unable to walk across ledges
- Very "clunky" combat system with poor animation transition...very stiff, unsatisfying, with very poor or barely any decent combat coreography...it simply isn't fun
- no tutorial of any kind
- very poor pc port...fps drops, controls, UI

Personal rant:

Nothing of absolutely "legendary" quality that DS fanatical ( and somewhat rabid and insane, at times) community would have you believe. It combines elements from different games, improving on some, degrading others, while attracting the crowd with "Dark Souls is what turns boys into MEN" silly propaganda .
It is a very limited title, with as many flaws as positives and one that requires more patience than anything else. I personally don't get a hard on from clicking a mouse and Dark Souls, most of the time simply comes across as being a tedious chore, than a fun and challenging experience.
Still, I respect a vision behind this game and I can see that a lot of effort went into it, so I cannot judge it negatively despite my impression.…Expand

The game is definitely worth playing, but sadly it's a really lazy port to the PC platform. The camera control is horrendous whether you are using the keyboard or mouse. If you are using mouse, the camera just jitters around which makes you miss your normal attacks sometimes, or even lead you to drop in a dead pit. If you use the keyboard, well it feels more smooth, just like when you areThe game is definitely worth playing, but sadly it's a really lazy port to the PC platform. The camera control is horrendous whether you are using the keyboard or mouse. If you are using mouse, the camera just jitters around which makes you miss your normal attacks sometimes, or even lead you to drop in a dead pit. If you use the keyboard, well it feels more smooth, just like when you are using analog sticks, but then it's too slow to sway the camera to a correct angle to do anything (console players can probably be good at this, but as a pure PC gamer, I simply can't stand it). Movement control wise, it feels a lot better than the camera, but still suffers from random problems, such as sometimes my character would just execute some actions which I completely did not order him to do so, like random rolls, random jump attacks, random stab towards a completely reversed direction, but I do not know if it is the game or is it just me not being used to this controlling scheme. Besides the control problems and several other port problems, the game itself is actually quite amazing, and definitely one of the most challenging yet rewarding games these years. The art style and the graphic rendering just completely fits with the setting and the tone of the world, and the combat system is also very complicated and worth exploiting, plus intelligent level design and enemy AI configurations, with those HUUUUGE epic bosses, so overall, it's a great game, but badly ported.…Expand

It means to be playable using Controller,if playing Keyboard Controller,its freaking impossible.Worst Console Port Ever,with Lack of Tweaks,Capped FPS and Frustratingly Hard-To Play this game.But the game core is good on every possible so,i don`t recommend this game if you wanna play using Keyboard+Mouse because its all messed up....I really wanted to play this game because it looks fun toIt means to be playable using Controller,if playing Keyboard Controller,its freaking impossible.Worst Console Port Ever,with Lack of Tweaks,Capped FPS and Frustratingly Hard-To Play this game.But the game core is good on every possible so,i don`t recommend this game if you wanna play using Keyboard+Mouse because its all messed up....I really wanted to play this game because it looks fun to play even through its Difficulty was way impossible...…Expand

I got this game because of all this hype I heard from its fans,that it's a super-duper game that is very challenging and rewarding. Unfortunately I can't say I like it.
It suffers from frame rate issues in AMD graphics cards too much. I have an AMD HD 6850 Vapor X edition that allows me to play Crysis and Battlefield 3 at Ultra,yet I get frame drops lower than 30fps with this game whichI got this game because of all this hype I heard from its fans,that it's a super-duper game that is very challenging and rewarding. Unfortunately I can't say I like it.
It suffers from frame rate issues in AMD graphics cards too much. I have an AMD HD 6850 Vapor X edition that allows me to play Crysis and Battlefield 3 at Ultra,yet I get frame drops lower than 30fps with this game which is rediculous. I have a better frame rate playing Metro 2033 at High settings with DX11 on,than in this,which is crazy.
Its controls are broken,and I'm not talking about the console button prompts or the mouse support.
I play it with Xbox360 controller,and I can't say it controls well. Often the actions have latency so I might press the button to attack but my character will stay staring at the enemy for many moments,and when he will finally decide to attack it will be too late because the enemy will already have gone to another direction,have approached me,and attacks me the moment the attack animation is finally initiated.
The game's lock-on system is broken. It rarely locks the enemy you want,because if there are many enemies on the screen it locks on random target,so there might be an enemy standing 1 foot away from you and another one 100 feet away,and the game lock to the enemy 100 foot away while the enemy 1 foot away slashes me in pieces. If you already have locked on the wrong enemy and you press the lock button again,sometimes the lock turns completely off and other times it locks on the other enemy,so you can never know what will happen,and once I got killed because I wanted to lock a different enemy and instead the lock function was turned off meaning my character also stopped backpedaling and instead turned his back to the enemy,and other times I wanted to stop having the lock function on 'on', so I can sprint away from an enemy I couldn't block with my shield,but instead the game locked to another enemy and I died again.
In this game you are not fighting the monsters,which are not really that big deal,but you are fighting the controls.
These broken controls make playing the game more like a chore and less like entertainment.
I wouldn't have a problem with a game that would offer pure genuine and fair challenge,but this is beyond rediculous,getting killed because the game's mechanics sometimes work and some don't isn't exactly fair or intriguing. It's so bad I don't know if I will ever finish it. I will give it one more try,but I'm not sure.…Expand

Played for several hours and I can't see the big deal. This game is painfully mediocre and bad port doesn't really have to do with that. After several community fixes and patches, Dark Souls is more or less playable on PC with mouse and keyboard. But the real problem lies within the core design of the game. First, there is no story, just lore. Some may say, that it allows you to make upPlayed for several hours and I can't see the big deal. This game is painfully mediocre and bad port doesn't really have to do with that. After several community fixes and patches, Dark Souls is more or less playable on PC with mouse and keyboard. But the real problem lies within the core design of the game. First, there is no story, just lore. Some may say, that it allows you to make up your own story or something like that, but it seems nothing more than an attempt to hide developers' laziness. The sound design is great, though and music is all right, but the voice acting is uninspired. Graphically it won't blow you away, but unless you are one of these "no DirectX 11, no tessellation, this game sucks!"-type, there's nothing terrible about how the game looks thanks to great architecture and visual design, as long as you have the resolution fix. As for, the gameplay, I have mixed feelings . The fighting itself is reasonably hard and dynamic, forcing the player to constantly be on guard and pay attention to every small detail in order to beat incredibly overpowered enemies. The role-playing elements, though scarce, are flexible enough to allow you to create your own character. There are 10 classes and pretty big selection of weapons and armor. All of these positive elements are ruined by two huge flaws, which for some reason are considered as "hardcore". The first one are the checkpoints. When you die (and you will a lot, even if you are the most skilled gamer out there), you are taken to a checkpoint, you lose all of your souls (XP) and you"ll have to travel to the place you died to retrieve them. The distance may be pretty long and it will feel like waste of time. Was adding manual save function after you have beaten your enemies (and deactivating it while you are fighting) really that hard? The second and by far the greatest flaw is the enemy respawn. Not only they respawn after you die, the SAME enemies respawn at the SAME place the game designers have put them and you have to fight them again. This becomes incredibly frustrating and repetitive. Even if you don't die, you HAVE to visit the bonfires (checkpoints) if you want to upgrade your stats with souls and guess what? The enemies respawn again! This sucks all the fun from the intuitive but, ultimately, unoriginal fight system and makes this game more like a chore to play. Again, was putting random respawn that hard? Also, the absence of the world map (not mini-map, by the way) makes it hard to navigate and you'll probably need a guide in order to find out which hub is connected to which. I don't mind not having a mini-map, but in my opinion a game should have at least some navigational mechanic. The supposed open-world design is fake, as in Dark Souls there are nothing more than linear hubs connected with even more linear paths , in Kingdoms of Amalur fashion. Final slap in the face are lack of ANY facial animations. This is unforgivable for a 2011 triple-A third-person action game title. In all, the game is better than recent Bioware and Bethesda garbage, but the design flaws basically kill it. I'll give it a try some other time later, but doubt I'll like it. Rent it before buying.…Expand

The opening cinematics hint at a truly remarkable game. The rave reviews of fans are encouraging. However my PC version of this game remains unplayable for two key reasons: (1) Games For Windows Live. Why in the seven hells, did they have to append this horrible DRM on the game? This refuses to log in, refuses to allow saves in game, and refuses to even allow the game to be quit out ofThe opening cinematics hint at a truly remarkable game. The rave reviews of fans are encouraging. However my PC version of this game remains unplayable for two key reasons: (1) Games For Windows Live. Why in the seven hells, did they have to append this horrible DRM on the game? This refuses to log in, refuses to allow saves in game, and refuses to even allow the game to be quit out of without alt F4! (2) The controls are even worse than you heard. From Software chose the most ridiculous keys they could think of for their key mapping. "Buy a controller?" Hell, WHY! This is clearly a console game. As PC software it clearly earns 0/10. I suggest those who want to enjoy it do so on console.

THE GROT REVIEW CRITERIA: After a long time writing reviews like an anus, think its time to set a few bad habits straight: Stop insulting designers. Show some respect for the design process and getting games in circulation. Hence (1) No Red scores. (2) Game scores as follows: Bad Game 5/10. Poor Game 6/10. Mediocre Game: 7/10. Good Game 8/10. Great game 9/10. Stella Game 10/10. To get 10/10 it must be a game that can be (theoretically) play-able for 1000+ hours. Not only great but near endless fun. Games may be bad or poor but making them should earn respect. Thus even the worst POS will still be a 5/10. 0/10 no longer exists in my vocabulary. Yellow is the new red. For the sake of accountability: you can reply if needed: Orctowngrot: Tim Rawlins: timtimjp@yahoo.com…Expand

Okay where to start.
The game is just exactly the same as the PS 3 one. Only thing that isn't there is a resolution fix (already fixed by a mod). Not good nor bad just okay. (They are lazy yea okay)
Now what really pisses me off are the controls. I don't mind bad graphics, i don't mind bad voice acting. I don't mind little glitches or bugs. I do hate (and hate is just the nicest word iOkay where to start.
The game is just exactly the same as the PS 3 one. Only thing that isn't there is a resolution fix (already fixed by a mod). Not good nor bad just okay. (They are lazy yea okay)
Now what really pisses me off are the controls. I don't mind bad graphics, i don't mind bad voice acting. I don't mind little glitches or bugs. I do hate (and hate is just the nicest word i could find) the controls, it just ruins the entire gameplay. If you gonna port something to the PC you have to know we use a mouse and a keyboard not an Xbox 360 controller nor PS 3 controller. I was struggling to play this game and after 8 hours of frustration i just gave up and searched the internet for a solution (because you know not everyone has a Xbox controller) now i play this with a PS 3 controller.
The controls are just a lazy 15 minute add on which they probably didn't even test and i hate lazy companies. If i can give you a tip just buy it for the PS 3 and save yourself from some frustration.…Expand

Great game but a HORRIBLE port to PC.
If it was not for a wodnerful modding community that has fixed the game already, I would not recocmend this game.
As it stands its a great game with a poor PC port, but if you know how to use mods and you have a controller to play with then I would suggest getting the game. But if you want to use K+M and or you dont know how to use mods then stayGreat game but a HORRIBLE port to PC.
If it was not for a wodnerful modding community that has fixed the game already, I would not recocmend this game.

As it stands its a great game with a poor PC port, but if you know how to use mods and you have a controller to play with then I would suggest getting the game. But if you want to use K+M and or you dont know how to use mods then stay far away from this game.

Lazy ports are not something I like, but if the game is good I can look past them sometimes. Just make sure that you know what you are getting in for before buying this game before you pick it up. Its the worst PC port since Saints Row2 and RE4, but in the end its still a good game if you have a controller and dont mind modding.

This will probably go down as the WORST PC port of all time...Ever... That said, DON'T get this unless you don't have access to the console versions. That might sound hard to believe, but it's really true. The graphical differences are minimal or even worse than the console versions. The controls are absolutely atrocious. (WHO USES THE "END" KEY TO OPEN A MENU?!) Madness, really. PlayingThis will probably go down as the WORST PC port of all time...Ever... That said, DON'T get this unless you don't have access to the console versions. That might sound hard to believe, but it's really true. The graphical differences are minimal or even worse than the console versions. The controls are absolutely atrocious. (WHO USES THE "END" KEY TO OPEN A MENU?!) Madness, really. Playing with a mouse is next to impossible. You will have to use the keyboard for everything. The button prompts are all based off a 360 controler, even if you don't have one plugged in. You'll get tips saying press RB to attack, instead of LMB or H; yeah, that's right "RB". At least the developers did warn us, but seriously? Couldn't they have hired third part support? Not to mention GFWL. If you can look past all of the many downsides then it's still Dark Souls, an excellent game. But if you've already played the console versions and just want this for +60 FPS (BTW, it's capped at 30) or the extra content you will be sorely disappointed because it's just not worth it.... Who knows? Maybe modders will make this a great game, but in the meantime stay clear. If you still want it just make sure to get a gamepad.…Expand

To echo what's already there - simply put this is an awful port. If you don't already own or plan on purchasing a controller do not buy Darksouls on pc, a mouse and keyboard will suck the fun right out of the game.

With so many people going on about how it's the best RPG ever.... I knowing it was a piss poor PC port on release, I ignored the game until today's steam sale, all I can say is this game is a utter pile of the graphics look like a playstation 2 game, the menus are clunky, and while the game handled ok on my gamepad... the mods that fix the graphic just dont work for me. WASTED £4.99 andWith so many people going on about how it's the best RPG ever.... I knowing it was a piss poor PC port on release, I ignored the game until today's steam sale, all I can say is this game is a utter pile of the graphics look like a playstation 2 game, the menus are clunky, and while the game handled ok on my gamepad... the mods that fix the graphic just dont work for me. WASTED £4.99 and feel like I was robbed blind by all the bull****ting on here that said it was good.…Expand

As one the worst ports I've ever played, it also suffers from poor storytelling and an unforgiving difficulty. The battle mechanics are very good, while boss fights are the highlights of the game. It can be tedious sometimes, but it is an overall enjoyable experience that requires patience and dedication.

Simply put it is overrated. It can be challenging but there are plenty of harder games out there that have difficulty settings. This games difficulty is over-exaggerated greatly. Having played this myself I have to assume it only gained popularity because its not "mainstream". Fight the power, kids..!

Its not a bad game though, just overrated, and my score of 7 suits it perfectly. ISimply put it is overrated. It can be challenging but there are plenty of harder games out there that have difficulty settings. This games difficulty is over-exaggerated greatly. Having played this myself I have to assume it only gained popularity because its not "mainstream". Fight the power, kids..!

Its not a bad game though, just overrated, and my score of 7 suits it perfectly. I didn't have any real problems with this port either.…Expand

This is a good game, but definately not a proper RPG. The focus is totally on combat, there are no dialogues, character advancement is secondary at best. The controls are... uh, terrible - forget the mouse and keyboard, I was able to play it only on a gamepad. FPS are low. Despite that, it still is a very good game, with nice visuals, difficult combat and dreary landscapes. Just it couldThis is a good game, but definately not a proper RPG. The focus is totally on combat, there are no dialogues, character advancement is secondary at best. The controls are... uh, terrible - forget the mouse and keyboard, I was able to play it only on a gamepad. FPS are low. Despite that, it still is a very good game, with nice visuals, difficult combat and dreary landscapes. Just it could benefit immensely from a good PC port.…Expand

The difficulty is great, losing souls when you die is great, just pick them up Diablo II style. This game is supposed to be hard and the story is only non existent for blind people. What I do not like is the **** port, the bad controls for PC , the nonexistent PC control hints and the fact that some small bugs makes some mobs harder than they are because they just don't work the way theyThe difficulty is great, losing souls when you die is great, just pick them up Diablo II style. This game is supposed to be hard and the story is only non existent for blind people. What I do not like is the **** port, the bad controls for PC , the nonexistent PC control hints and the fact that some small bugs makes some mobs harder than they are because they just don't work the way they are supposed to.

IF you have a controller for your PC and love hard but fair games, then get this game because it's great. flawed but great.…Expand

An average game. Can not understand all the highly positiv reviews. The gameplay on Pc isnt very good but after the first hour and an graphic patch its ok and i dont want to complain about it. But the game it self isnt as good as it could be. The first hours of the game are very hard as u expectet sometimes its frustrating to die this often but before u bought the game u knew it. But afterAn average game. Can not understand all the highly positiv reviews. The gameplay on Pc isnt very good but after the first hour and an graphic patch its ok and i dont want to complain about it. But the game it self isnt as good as it could be. The first hours of the game are very hard as u expectet sometimes its frustrating to die this often but before u bought the game u knew it. But after the first 3 bosses the game gets to easy in my oppinion. Enemys get weak and ure Charakter getts too strong. I killed the final boss without losing half my hp.…Expand

an awful pc port.. but this is to be expected communing from the developer who has never done a PC port . but regarding the game its pretty good. the one thing i love about a dark souls game is its difficulty. this could be by far one of the best RPGs ever made if they made provided if the port was decent..

very good game with a lot of potential but poorly executed.low fps,terrible pc port and don't even bother to even test it without controller.some of the port problems can be fixed by dsfix but this isn't an excuse for these major problems.the game is jekyll and hyde.

Despite the fact that the developers made it hard to play the game using just the keyboard, the port was not too difficult to manage. The gameplay was still great, and despite there being a lot of lag due to my graphics card not being the best in the world, I managed to do fine without using a gamepad. The controls might seem impossible for those not used to classic keyboard controls, butDespite the fact that the developers made it hard to play the game using just the keyboard, the port was not too difficult to manage. The gameplay was still great, and despite there being a lot of lag due to my graphics card not being the best in the world, I managed to do fine without using a gamepad. The controls might seem impossible for those not used to classic keyboard controls, but for keyboard users, it is not too much of a leap to make. Overall, not the best port I have seen, but definitely not the worst, either.…Expand

Dark souls is a great game. It really is and I give a 7/10 score not because the game is bad, but rather because it's a fairly bad port. If you're going to get it on the pc make sure you have a controller for your computer. Also, it can be quite a hassle when starting it up for the first time thanks to Games For Windows Live Marketplace but a bit of searching the internet should solve that issue.

My favorite game of all time gets a 7. The reason for this is, while it is my personal soul-mate, it is definitely not for everyone, and plenty of flawed game design is in it.
PROS:
+ The art direction is so incredible! This is one of the main reasons my love for Dark Souls is so enormous. If you decide not to get this game - at least pick-up an art book.
+ 90% of the bosses areMy favorite game of all time gets a 7. The reason for this is, while it is my personal soul-mate, it is definitely not for everyone, and plenty of flawed game design is in it.
PROS:
+ The art direction is so incredible! This is one of the main reasons my love for Dark Souls is so enormous. If you decide not to get this game - at least pick-up an art book.
+ 90% of the bosses are challenging but fair (most of them). They can be amazing, brilliant, beautiful, and sometimes (if you know the lore) tear-jerking.
+ The lore is so deep; every character has an incredible back-story, no matter how small their role. A prime example of this is Knight Lautrec of Carim, who has more story than screen-time.
+ While some levels are hot smelly trash (*cough* Blighttown *cough*), some levels are amazing, for example, the Painted World of Ariamas.
+ So many weapons, so many spells, so many upgrades, so many classes; your character is a slate for you to do what every you want with.
CONS:
- Some bosses (the 10%, if you will), are just stupid. Bed of Chaos is one of the most frustrating bosses ever, Priscilla can be irritating your first few playthroughs, Gwyndolin decides if you live or not. But including maybe a few others, there aren't many.
- Some levels are dumb - just designed to make you angry: Blighttown, The Depths, The Great Hollow, Ash Lake, and the route to Manus (if you have the DLC) is another awful one. But keep in mind, again, there are some AMAZING levels in this game.
- Invasions, they aren't fair. But at least they don't pretend to be fair.
- The biggest learning curve in any game every. You'll be frustrated when on your first playthrough you find out you've screwed yourself by wasting humanity and leveling the wrong stats 10 hours ago.
If you're skeptical about a purchase of this game (unfortunately there isn't a demo I can recommend), just watch a Let's Play of the game on YouTube, and decide from there. But it is my favorite game of all time, and I would recommend picking it up on sale.…Expand

It's a horrible port and a game specifically made for the restrictions of a console. That being said, in hindsight it was worth all the headaches. It took me a few hours to get this game working properly on a PC with an azerty keyboard. After all that, the controls were still subpar and every gameplay tip was displayed with the controller keys in mind. I still wanted to experience thisIt's a horrible port and a game specifically made for the restrictions of a console. That being said, in hindsight it was worth all the headaches. It took me a few hours to get this game working properly on a PC with an azerty keyboard. After all that, the controls were still subpar and every gameplay tip was displayed with the controller keys in mind. I still wanted to experience this game because of all the good things I heard about it.

After playing it for a few days, I can safely say that not just the port but also the difficulty of the entire game is vastly overrated. A lot of the difficulty comes down to quirks and limitations of the game mechanics and controls. Weapons hitting walls but no option to stab instead of swing, extremely bad hitboxes especially in some Boss battles, horrible camera angles and so on. Worst of all was the horrific targeting system. No self respecting PC gamer should be forced to use something as dumb and simplifying as an auto targeting system. If I played careful and focused, I rarely died more than once to a Boss mechanic or even a certain area. Atleast for me, a lot of the difficulty was artificial and it all came down to game and console limitations. I would have prefered if they would have added save points right before Boss battles, it's not a challenge to walk back to a Boss everytime you died, it's a waste of time. I have played RPG's that were, with the right difficulty settings, just as hard as this game but didn't have these annoying limitations.

All these annoying quirks aside, the game is actually pretty solid. Engaging combat mechanics (despite the hitboxes on Bosses), great atmosphere, a very mysterious and hostile environment and some fun RPG elements. If you can ignore all those annoying things and persist till you can atleast manage the crappy controls, it's an addictive game. It can indeed be a frustrating experience, especially with the controls, but it wasn't the (partially artificial) difficulty that stood out to me. It was the engaging world, fun combat and the appeal of slow but steady progress.…Expand

First of all, if not the quality of the port, the game would get a strong 8 or even 9/10.
There is practically no storytelling in the game, you are figuring out the plot out of the events and very laconic conversations. However, I find the lore of the Dark Souls world very appealing, even if not being proper cRPG (story-wise).
On PC, the legendary difficulty of this game is mostly causedFirst of all, if not the quality of the port, the game would get a strong 8 or even 9/10.
There is practically no storytelling in the game, you are figuring out the plot out of the events and very laconic conversations. However, I find the lore of the Dark Souls world very appealing, even if not being proper cRPG (story-wise).
On PC, the legendary difficulty of this game is mostly caused by a very poor port. The game is practically unplayable with keyboard and mouse. Don't even start it without proper controller. Things like constantly displaying windows cursor or capped frame rate are minor issues, but the keyboard/mouse support is ridiculous.
However the game still managed to rip 40 hours of my life.…Expand

I'm not sure if their is a game on this planet as infamous as Dark Souls, that actually makes you feel as though you've cheated throughout its entirety as soon as the ending credits begin to roll. I always considered myself a casual player in regards to the series, having mainly spent several hundreds of hours playing through multiple builds, with different weapons, different armorI'm not sure if their is a game on this planet as infamous as Dark Souls, that actually makes you feel as though you've cheated throughout its entirety as soon as the ending credits begin to roll. I always considered myself a casual player in regards to the series, having mainly spent several hundreds of hours playing through multiple builds, with different weapons, different armor combinations and different approaches to more or less the same thing, over and over again. However, when I did finally finish it, I felt as if I had stumbled upon a glitch. Early on I had come into possession of the "Black Knight Halberd," a weapon that has a certain random number generator factor in terms of how often it drops in the game. Most people would prefer not to use this weapon, or it typically doesn't spawn often enough, whichever the reason, I took it all the way to the end. I spent all my souls and items to upgrade it as high as it could go, I wore armor that was far too heavy, but provided all the protection I'd ever need, I found a "Stone armor" shield and used that for the majority of major battles. I believe all I ever upgraded was "Strength" statistics in regards to my own character. I felt impervious, really the only times I didn't were sections of the game that purposefully slow you down, put you in terrible positions, or squares you off against two bosses at the same time. Otherwise, I felt like my victories were undeserved and while this was going on, I also felt as though the game was missing something. Huge vantage points showed a massive world built for giants! Enormous structures lay about almost everywhere, but it was so spread out that the rest of the world seemed almost dead, almost silent. Many might argue that it created a more foreboding atmosphere, but I would argue that developers who designed such large open spaces, had neglected to place anything in them. While I don't believe Dark Souls is a bad game, I believe it is an acquired taste in the genre, to be fair their isn't much out there like it, but it lacks a kind of polish, it lacks a dimension of real proper design. I admit, I'm am just a casual fan, but even after spending hundreds of hours playing, even as the hollowed figure rose up from his imprisonment, after those credits had rolled for the first time, after everything had been defeated, even I had to set the controller down and walk away. Dark Souls possesses a kind of charm, that we don't see in many things anymore, and I do believe it is special, but it seems a shame that its uniqueness doesn't quite cover up its many glaring flaws. I think to this day it was one of the few games that had me utterly transfixed on its own pointlessness by the end of it.…Expand

To get this out of the way early: yes, the port is terrible. It's a direct port which had little work put into its PC controls and settings, and it suffers from it. However, the only reason it was made in the first place is because of a large movement of gamers asking for it. The lack of resources into its port is mostly a result of the company not knowing how safe an investment itTo get this out of the way early: yes, the port is terrible. It's a direct port which had little work put into its PC controls and settings, and it suffers from it. However, the only reason it was made in the first place is because of a large movement of gamers asking for it. The lack of resources into its port is mostly a result of the company not knowing how safe an investment it would be, though they were nice enough to throw in the DLC for free. Hopefully, if DS is successful on the PC, it will get more developers to focus more resources to making proper PC ports.

All that being said, this is still a great game, one of my favorites. The combat is brutal and challenging, which fits perfectly into its dark and imposing story. While there is a leveling system to the game, it's not really necessary; I've read forums of people challenging themselves by not leveling at all. If you can't get past the poor controls, or have a gamepad available, at least try this out for the console. Dark Souls does a lot of things very well, and it's worth giving a try.…Expand

Before you take to heart what a lot of the negative reviewers are giving this game, understand that a lot of them are judging it completely on the aspect that it is not possible to play properly with a mouse and keyboard. Steam, and the retail version both clearly state that a Microsoft Xbox 360 controller is needed to play the game.
The real quarrel that I have with the PC Port is thatBefore you take to heart what a lot of the negative reviewers are giving this game, understand that a lot of them are judging it completely on the aspect that it is not possible to play properly with a mouse and keyboard. Steam, and the retail version both clearly state that a Microsoft Xbox 360 controller is needed to play the game.
The real quarrel that I have with the PC Port is that it is not properly optimized. It is locked at 30 fps and on my moderately good rig which can play Skyrim at near maximum, it stutters a lot when entering new areas. This has been fixed by tweaking some settings in Catalyst Control Center and using a modification called DSFix.

If you are willing to use an Xbox 360 controller, or equivalent, then this game should pose you no threat as long as you use DSFix or have a newer Nvidia GPU.

Dark Souls is an extremely challenging and rewarding game that makes you beg for more with its unforgiving and barren atmosphere. It takes you from the depths of an Asylum to the highest reaches of Lordran as you fight your way to the top through trial and error. There are many secrets to discover and really is the type of game with many different unique aspects that were lost to gaming many years ago - the only way that you can really experience this is to try it for yourself.

It boasts a unique weapons system and a stat range similar to the complexities of World of Warcraft although it's pretty ridiculous comparing the two games. I mentioned the popular mmorpg to reference the stat system and the importance of the type of gear and stats you increase depending on your class, although it is a little more flexible.

Boss battles will have you cringing, and the whole way through you will either be angry or on edge, waiting for the next enemy that appeared around the corner. The words "YOU DIED" will be engraved into your mind for eternity after playing this game.

I give this game a 7/10 because of the bad PC port. However, providing these issues were fixed and judging the game based on their original console versions it would be a clear 9/10.…Expand

I've found this game to be an excellent RPG game, the characters are interesting, the story and lore are rich and deep. As we all know, the PC version is probably one of the laziest ports from a console in recent history. But there's also the problem of how much people are reacting to this port, the port was never planned until a petition that received a huge amount of signatures gotI've found this game to be an excellent RPG game, the characters are interesting, the story and lore are rich and deep. As we all know, the PC version is probably one of the laziest ports from a console in recent history. But there's also the problem of how much people are reacting to this port, the port was never planned until a petition that received a huge amount of signatures got through to the developers who then decided to make a port to support their profits. I don't think this is a bad game, wipe the horrific port away and it's one of my most favourite games ever, but the port does bring it down. Though I also think people are overreacting, since the PC port was never apart of their plans and shouldn't be used as a basis for a review. Like how they were forced to make a PC port, we're forced to go through an unplanned port. But this lesson does leave a bright future for the next Dark Souls game. The combat is excellent and the whole thing is rewarding, and the game has a glorious multiplayer with a complex and amazing covenant system. This game is probably one of the best games on a console, but for a PC it needs to step up its game to even make a mark on the vast market. Lets hope Dark Souls II doesn't turn out the same way.…Expand

its OK, wasn't as hard as people said really you just take your time and look for the exploit. I like the story if you take the time to look for it, the only thing that really let me down about this game was the forced pvp, i didnt know it was a part of the game and its a real pisser to get far, or be near a camp fire just for some **** to jump in while you are surrounded and now you haveits OK, wasn't as hard as people said really you just take your time and look for the exploit. I like the story if you take the time to look for it, the only thing that really let me down about this game was the forced pvp, i didnt know it was a part of the game and its a real pisser to get far, or be near a camp fire just for some **** to jump in while you are surrounded and now you have to go back all over again. in the end if the pvp is a main stay of the game i probably wont play the other titles and just have to accept this game isn't for me.…Expand

The game is definitely good, challenging and with a nice and dark setting, but controls/bugs (only partially fixed with mods) kept me away from this title for a long time.

When you release a game for PC, players expect to find 2 things, mostly: graphical options and working controls for mouse/keyboard (and eventually a controller too).
This game actually lacks both (non-moddedThe game is definitely good, challenging and with a nice and dark setting, but controls/bugs (only partially fixed with mods) kept me away from this title for a long time.

When you release a game for PC, players expect to find 2 things, mostly: graphical options and working controls for mouse/keyboard (and eventually a controller too).
This game actually lacks both (non-modded mouse-look makes you puke hard after few minutes of gameplay).
After I switched to v2.0-beta, installed DSFix, DSMfix, KB+M icons and hi-res fonts it still isn't good: I can change graphical options and the mouse-look works "better" but it's definitely not enough to make me enjoy this game with KB+M.
I know it is clearly stated that an xbox controller is strongly recommended, but again I think that for any PC game, working keyboard + mouse support is mandatory (along with basic graphical quality options). It's a pity we have to get what developers were supposed to do through unofficial mods.

So, this PC port is still one of the worst ports I have ever played, but after you manage to get it playable modding/tuning graphic and control settings, I can easily say it's a gem, one of the 10 out of 10 that keep yourself playing hours and hours, amazed by atmosphere, story-telling and gameplay.

In the end I'd say I totally recommend this game to hardcore action-rpg lovers but think twice before buying if you don't have a controller.
Also, to my linux fellas: the game runs stable with staging wine, no framedrops.…Expand

First thing to say is that DSfix and a controller are pretty much a necessity for this game considering how much of a shoddy port it is. Without this mod and with kb/m, I probably would've rated my Dark Souls experience a 5/10 at best. Even with the fix in place, there are a couple graphical issues such as screen tearing, and performance can become unbearably bad in some segments even withFirst thing to say is that DSfix and a controller are pretty much a necessity for this game considering how much of a shoddy port it is. Without this mod and with kb/m, I probably would've rated my Dark Souls experience a 5/10 at best. Even with the fix in place, there are a couple graphical issues such as screen tearing, and performance can become unbearably bad in some segments even with high-end hardware (Seath the Scaleless boss battle comes to mind). Fortunately, these instances aren't commonplace and I was able to maintain 60fps most of the time.

With regards to the presentation of the game, I thought the visuals and sound quality were unremarkable, even by 2011 standards. The level design was for the most part quite good, and I did like how interconnected the various areas of the game were. Many reviewers seem to praise the hidden backstory of Dark Souls as if it's some superior form of storytelling. While I do find the idea innovative in a sense, I do wish that the overarching story could be a little more cohesive and less up to interpretation. At best, the player finds small, disconnected snippets of lore from which the wider Dark Souls community have made vast extrapolations in order to produce some semblance of a timeline of events. I'm willing to bet that for most players, had they not consulted a wiki or accessed an online synopsis, they would've been quite lost in terms of the story, and wouldn't know that areas such as the Great Hollow or Ash Lake existed. My point is, while the plot that is deemed 'correct' by online consensus is a decent one, its delivery is too inaccessible.

The gameplay mechanics are generally pretty solid. Combat system is decent, and there are some exploration and RPG elements. My complaints in this area include the lack of explanation of several mechanics such as rolling speeds, having longer/shorter parrying windows for particular shields, effect of humanity on item discovery and resistances etc. Enemy AI pathfinding also isn't very good, as seen when enemies roll off cliffs or get stuck walking up staircases. There are also a few enemies and bosses that felt 'cheap' in their design, usually due to forcing the camera into awkward angles in enclosed and narrow spaces (eg: Capra Demon, Centipede Demon). The difficulty is something that is often praised though I'm also not sure why this is so. While I don't object to hard games, it's not something I'll give free brownie points for. The game was challenging but not overly so. Like I said, some instances felt cheap, but otherwise with enough patience every obstacle in Dark Souls can be overcome.

The irony is that the PC version could have been much better than the PS3/360 ones, with higher resolutions to make the textures look better, a cornucopia of mods and/or an active (in theory at least) community. But FROM ruined it all (with the assistance of Games for Windows Live). It’s a shame really, if we at least had just a decent port (or a better infrastructure for a less appalling multiplayer mode), Dark Souls could have been one of the best RPG for the PC. [November 2012]

Dark Souls returns the hardcore elements back to action RPGs – heavy focus on uncompromising fight mechanics and absolute freedom in hero profiling. The price of this game is not for everyone. [Oct 2012]